Because of you
by Rachel-fall
Summary: Gabriellas life is a mess. She is abused by her boyfriend and she can't take it anymore. Who can save her and will it all end well. Was he the only one who can save her or was it the other way around?. Ryella


**New story and a new plot.  
Hope you guys like it but beware there is a twist the lyrics will not match the story perfectly until you have finished the story ;).  
This story is from Kelly Clarkson's single **_**Because of you**_** so enjoy.  
Read and review**

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**I will not make the same mistakes that you did.  
I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery.**

**  
**Gabriella sat in her living room reliving her memories.  
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she thought of what had happened.  
Her entire body trembled as the memories flashed in her mind of how everything had started so awful but changed to something wonderful and how it had all come crashing down on her.

**  
**Troy had been horrible to Gabriella.  
Cheating, hitting and using her.  
And the worst thing is, is that she let him do it.  
Ryan however saw her pain and suffering everyday.  
He couldn't let anybody treat her like that.  
He needed to do something but he couldn't.  
Troy was stronger than he was; he had more friends that would stand up for him.  
Ryan didn't care. He love Gabriella and she loved him, he just didn't know it yet.  
She loved how he would always make her feel special when nobody was around and she felt horrible.  
The way his smile would make her feel warm and safe.  
He saved from Troy and all the damage he did to her that she did not have the courage to stop.  
She loved Ryan he was the only one who could make her life worth living but Troy stood in the way and if she dared to break up with him. Let's just say she didn't want to know what he would do.

**I will not break the way you did you fell so hard.  
I've learned the hard way to never let it get that far**

After basketball practice Gabriella had been waiting outside to greet her beloved boyfriend. When he came out in happy mood she thought that he would be nice.  
No such luck.  
"Hey there Gabs" Troy said with a big smirk on his face.  
Shivers went down her body, she knew that look.  
He kissed her forcefully for a minuet until she tried to get away.  
"Oh come on don't be like that" Troy said pinning her wrists to the wall.  
"Troy stop!" she yelled between kisses as his hand slid up and down her body.  
"Troy please stops!" she yelled again tears running down her face.  
"I think she asked you to stop" she heard another voice say and she felt Troy go of her.  
She opened her eyes to see Troy against the wall and Ryan in front of him.  
Ryan took a swing at Troy's jaw.   
"If you ever touch her again I swear I will kill you" he yelled in his face as Troy slid to the floor.  
"Are you alright?" Ryan asked Gabriella, pulling her into a warm hug.  
"Yes I am alright now" she said and gave him a smile, a real smile.   
Ryan led her out of the school and to his car before Troy could get up and do anything.  
"Here I'll take you home" Ryan said and opened the car door for her.  
She sat in without saying a word the whole ride, just staring blankly out the window.  
When Ryan parked in her driveway she turned around and looked him straight in the eyes, taking in every color and every sparkle that came.  
"Thank you" she said.  
Ryan moved closer to her face gently touching her cheek with his hands, he could feel her tense up a little bit but it was only natural after all that she had been trough.  
Gabriella moved closer to him as well leaving only an inch between them.  
She took everything in.  
The way his breath felt on her skin, his scent and the way his touch made all her worries fade away.  
They closed the gap and shared a romantic and long awaited kiss.  
His soft lips on hers let her know that he was now here and nobody could hurt her.

**Because of you, I never stray too far from the sidewalk  
Because of you I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me  
Because of you I am afraid...**

From there on they were inseparable.  
After a few tries of getting Gabriella back Troy gave up.  
He was seen with a new cheerleader every week.   
Gabriella was happy, she was free and Ryan treated her right.   
Still the way Troy had treated her over the last 2 years haunted her still.  
She would still wake up with cold sweat from a nightmare.  
He had scared her and it wouldn't be easy to make all that go away.

**I lose my way and it's not to long before you point it out  
I cannot cry because I know that's weakness in your eyes**

Ryan had always seemed a little distant though felt Gabriella.  
She would ask him many times what was going on but he just told her that he was fine  
But After being together for 2 months Ryan finally decided to tell her.   
He started by going home to her house.  
After she promised not to do anything drastic he pulled up his shirt to show bruises and cuts all over his stomach and chest.  
Gabriella was shocked.  
"Who did this?"  
"My father, he is abusive" Ryan said pulling his shirt back down.  
"Why… Why don't you call the police?" Gabriella said sitting down on her bed not having enough energy to stand after hearing the news.  
"Because he is the only one who cares for the family and he only does this to me. I can't let my whole family fall apart" Tears started to run down his eyes as Gabriella pulled him into a hug.  
Finally they could be honest with each other.  
From there on Ryan slept over at Gabriella's house a lot because his dad would come home to drunk for Ryan to handle.  
Every time he slept over Gabriella woke up because Ryan would cry in his sleep.  
The only thing she would do was just to hold him, whisper to him that everything was alright and that she was there to watch him.  
He would never remember this the following morning but he did wake up in cold sweat.  
It was a lot for Gabriella to handle but she just loved him so much that she couldn't let him go.

**I'm forced to fake a smile, a laugh, every day of my life  
My heart can't possibly break when it wasn't even whole to start with**

**  
**Ryan and Gabriella lasted all through High school and never did their love fade.  
They went to the same Collage as all of their "closest" East High friends.  
Ryan still had to live with his father and ended up a couple of times in the hospital. Always trying to be brave and saying that he fell down the stairs.  
What Ryan didn't know is that it was getting too much for Gabriella.  
It hurt her to much to see her boyfriend looking like this.  
His father would even starve poor Ryan and nobody would do a thing, not his sister or his mother and Gabriella had given her promise to not do anything.   
After two years of Collage and Ryan getting worse every month it killed Gabriella to see him like this. Still she had to stay with him. She loved him and he loved her.

They had been together for a long time and Ryan felt it was time.  
"Gabriella you know I love you?" he asked her as they sat down on a bench in the park at night time.  
"Yes I do" she said moving closer to kiss him but he pulled away.  
"Yes but do you know how much. Do you know that I would give anything just to see you happy, or that I would do anything in my power to see you never cry again.  
Gabriella I love you and nothing in this world will change that."  
Gabriella was speechless.  
"Ry…." He cute her of.  
"Gabriella, we have been together for a long time, I know we are young but this just feels right"  
He went down on his knees and pulled out a little box from his jacket.  
"Gabriella Montez, will you marry me."  
Her eyes widened, she threw her hands around his neck and started to cry.   
"Yes Ryan. Yes. Yes. Yes"

Just that second. That moment in time she had made him the happiest guy in the universe. And he had made her feel like she could do anything in the world.  
They were happy and ready to start a new life, away from his father, away from her nightmares and just start a new.

**Because of you I never stray too far from the sidewalk  
Because of you I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you I find it hard to trust not only me, buteveryone around me  
Because of you I am afraid  
****  
**Even though Gabriella had given her word to Ryan that she wouldn't do anything she couldn't take it anymore when Ryan started to cough up blood and vomit continuingly.  
She had to do something; she had to protect him like he protected her.  
She did the only thing she knew, she called the cops.  
They came in and took his father under arrest.  
Ryan was so grateful that now everything was going to be good again and the beatings would stop.  
His family would get some money from the government until everything was back to normal.  
His father was sentenced to 3 years in prison.  
Everybody thought it was too little but he would be under surveillance when he got out.   
Ryan and Gabriella were finally free together. Everything was back to normal and nobody could mess it up now.  
Ryan was getting his health back and they both graduated college together. They could finally live their own lives.  
They got married as soon as they finished collage and bought a little house.  
Ryan became an actor with his sister for a TV series and Gabriella became a scientist.  
After 2 years of marriage everything was going like in a book.  
Gabriella was free from her night mares.  
Ryan was healthy and successful.  
All of that changed in an instant.

**  
****I watched you die I heard you cry every night in your sleep  
I was so young you should have known better than to lean on me  
You never thought of anyone else you just saw your pain  
And now I cry in the middle of the night for the same damn thing**

**  
**"I have some big news" Gabriella said as they walked out the door going out to a nice dinner.  
Ryan was wearing a black tux with a red tie and Gabriella in a long red cocktail dress.  
They were celebrating their 2 year anniversary by going out to their favorite restaurant.   
"So what is the big news?" Ryan asked as they walked down the street.  
"Oh I think I'll have to wait until tonight to tell you" Gabriella teased.  
Ryan swung her around to meet his gaze before pulling her into one of the best kisses they had ever shared and the last.  
"Ryan" They heard behind them a grumpy old shaky voice.  
"D… Dad" Ryan shook his head pushing Gabriella behind him to keep her safe.  
"How…." Ryan wasn't able to finish his sentence when they saw his father grab something from his pocket.  
"I told you you'd regret this" his father said and pulled out a gun pointing it right at Ryan.  
"No!" Gabriella yelled.  
There was a loud shot.  
And then there was silence.   
All she could hear was the running footsteps of his father.  
She looked over at Ryan who slowly sunk to the ground.  
"RYAN !" She yelled holding on to him and laid him softly on the floor.   
"RYAN. NO DON'T GO. PLEASE DON'T!" She yelled holding him tightly.  
She ripped up his tux to revel a big red stain spreading all over his white shirt.  
Ryan pulled together enough energy to reach up and lift her chin up to meet his eyes.  
"Gabriella. I love you. And I will always protect you" he said quietly.  
"NO RYAN DON'T LEAVE ME. YOUR GOING TO BE A DAD! PLEASE DON'T THIS CHILD NEEDS YOU".  
Ryan coughed and Gabriella could feel something hot playing around her knees.  
When she looked down everything was red.  
"PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!" Gabriella yelled.   
"Ryan please I need you the baby needs you" Tears were streaming down her face and her hands shook as she grabbed a hold of him tightly, stroking his blond wavy hair.  
"You will do great. I love you" he whispered into her ears.  
She felt him slowly let go of her but she kept on holding him tightly.  
"Ryan no. I love you too" she kept saying over and over again until the police arrived and said that they were looking for an loose convict.  
When they saw Ryan's lifeless body on the ground they immediately called the ambulance but it was too late.  
Ryan was gone.**  
**

**Because of you I never stray too far from the sidewalk  
Because of you, I learnt to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
Because of you I try my hardest just to forget everything  
Because of you I don't know how to let anyone else in.**Everything changed from that night.  
Gabriella never forgave herself for calling the cops on his father in the first place.  
Maybe if she had done it some other way Ryan wouldn't have died.

It had been 3 years since his death.  
Her nightmares were back every night from that moment on.  
Reliving the whole night again and again in her head.   
She could barley take it anymore.  
She love Ryan, she had given him her heart and now it was gone forever.  
**  
****Because of you I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty****   
****  
**Gabriella felt something soft nuzzle into her neck.  
She looked over at a blond little boy with bright blue eyes looking at her very sleeply.   
She quickly whiped away all her tears.  
"Mommy are you alright" the little boy asked her.  
"Yes I am hunny now go back to bed"  
"But I'm afraid, there are monsters under the bed again" he said and started to get tears in his eyes.  
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" he asked her.  
His eyes reminded her everyday of Ryan. They had the exact same look.  
"Ofcourse you can" Gabriella said smiling at her son.  
They both went upstairs and climped into bed together.  
She held him tighlty as he fell asleep, something was diffarent.  
She felt warm as if something was watching over her and holding on to her.  
She knew exactly what it was and she could always find it when she was with her son,

Ryan.

**  
Because of you I am afraid  
...Because Of you...**


End file.
